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One of Charleston’s most crowd-friendly restaurants is switching up its game, bringing in new players and planting inspiration just steps away from King Street.

Bright Side: Beautifully composed, each dish at Basic Kitchen tastes as good as it looks.

The interior at Basic Kitchen is warm yet clean and modern.

Owners and entrepreneurs Kate and Ben Towill are a dream team, combining their complementary talents to create beautiful things.

Delectable dishes.

Chef Nick Wilber.

Having the gardens on site empowers the cooks in the kitchen to get creative and be inspired.

There are countless reasons to love living in the Lowcountry, but one of the most rewarding is its long growing season, allowing for green thumbs to harvest a backyard bounty every month of the year. At Basic Kitchen Downtown Charleston, the team takes advantage of South Carolina’s plentiful produce, nourishing and inspiring all who enter.

Since the Basic Kitchen team overhauled the old Andolini’s Pizza building on Wentworth Street downtown and opened their venture in late 2017, Basic Kitchen has been a jewel in the downtown restaurant landscape, and a favorite of foodies everywhere. On any given night, a veritable who’s who of Charleston residents and out-of-town visitors can be found in the swanky space, sipping creative cocktails and sampling dishes from an everevolving menu. Conceived by entrepreneurs Kate and Ben Towill, the restaurant is a multi-sensory culmination of their travels, and brings together her experience in movie and television set design and his experience opening popular New York City restaurants including The Fat Radish, Ruschmeyers, The Leadbelly, and The East Pole. The result is a bright, airy restaurant unlike any other found in the Deep South; brimming with healthy options while not feeling at all like a typical healthy restaurant, Basic Kitchen is simply a delight.

Last year, Basic Kitchen experienced a bit of a refresh, becoming incorporated under The Fat Radish banner and gaining the expertise of Fat Radish partners such as Natalie Freihon. Executive Chef of the New York City restaurant, Nicholas Wilber, also joined the team down South, bringing with him well over a decade of experience in renowned restaurants all over the world. The chef ’s outside perspective benefits diners in at least two ways: Wilber has a strong and palpable appreciation for the traditional dishes of the South, and he is skilled and experienced enough to present them in novel ways.

“Our motto here at Basic Kitchen is ‘cleaner food, longer adventures,’” explains Wilber. “I like to think of it as during the day, during our lunch service, we offer the clean fuel, and in the evening, during our dinner service, we share what we brought back from our adventures, both locally and globally. With that, we have a whole new dinner menu that features a lot of southern-inspired, international elements and an amazing wine list to accompany it.”

With the refresh came an overhaul of the menu, expanding the options for diners of any dietary persuasion: whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, carnivore, eat gluten-free, or anywhere in between, there is something for you on the menu at Basic Kitchen. A solid cocktail menu accompanies the selections, and the dessert options never disappoint. The most notable change, however, came from a collaboration with Rita’s Roots Backyard Harvest, who installed four 4x5 raised beds in the restaurant’s courtyard dining space, as well as fruit trees in planters around the outdoor gathering area, and assisted the team in learning how to maintain and cultivate their own crops for use in the kitchen.

“Having the gardens on site empowers the cooks in the kitchen to get creative and be inspired,” says Natalie Freihon. “It also creates this ambiance where guests interact with the ingredients that make up their meals on a different level. Working with Rita’s Roots, as well as other local growers such as Fresh Future Farm, enables us to provide really fresh seasonal dishes while supporting our community and supporting our environment. That’s what our core values are all about.”

Rita Bachmann, owner of Rita’s Roots, is thrilled to be a part of the endeavor. “It is such a wonderful thing to connect the growing process of the produce with what is happening in the kitchen,” she says. “It is something really special that is beneficial for the chefs, the menu, the customers—really, for everyone!”

For Chef Nick Wilber, the opportunity to be inspired by his new home is one he approaches with respect and care. As he gathers greens for the night’s dinner service, he offers a word of advice for home cooks looking to branch out.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect,” Wilber suggests. “Go to a farmer’s market, get a couple of things you’re familiar with, and then choose something that is unfamiliar. Then, Google is your best friend. You may make mistakes as you’re learning, but if you have fun with it, that’s all that matters.”

Fresh and bold, this falafel dish packs in the flavor.

Harvesting ingredients on-site.

Fresh and Clean: The bar is the perfect place to grab a cocktail before dinner; Chef Nick Wilber shares some of his most recent creations.

“Our motto here at Basic Kitchen is ‘cleaner food, longer adventures,’” explains Wilber.

Garden Miso Soup with Turnips and Bok Choy

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

750ml vegetable stock

2 medium turnips, ends removed and cut into eighths

1 inch peeled fresh ginger, julienned

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 fresh red chili, deseeded and chopped

2 tablespoons white miso paste

2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

1 head bok choy, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

¼ cup dried wakame seaweed

1 tablespoon sesame seed

¼ cup pickled ginger

4 whole eggs (for soft boiling)

Olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss turnips in a bowl with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil. Place turnips on a sheet tray and bake for 20 minutes until lightly brown and tender. Remove and set aside. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Gently place the whole eggs in and boil for 6 minutes, 35 seconds. While boiling, prepare a bowl of ice water, and when the eggs are done, use a slotted spoon to lower them into the ice water to quickly cool them off. Crack shell with a spoon, then peel. Set aside. Pour the stock into a pan and bring to a boil. Add fresh ginger, garlic, and chili, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir miso paste and a splash of soy sauce into the stock, then turn off the heat. Add chopped bok choy and wakame seaweed into the broth, and allow two minutes for the bok choy to soften and the seaweed to re-hydrate. Ladle soup in bowls. Top with egg, garnish with scallions, pickled ginger, and sesame seeds.

Rustic Italian Bean Stew

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1 pound of sea island red peas, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 bunches of kale or collards

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, diced

8 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup of tomato paste

¾ cup fresh rosemary, stems removed and chopped

1 teaspoon chili flakes

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 quarts vegetable stock

½ loaf rustic bread

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: parmesan or pecorino cheese

Instructions:

In a heavy bottomed pot, gently heat oil over low to medium heat with garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary, and chili flakes until it becomes fragrant. Add onion, celery, and carrots, and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add beans and vegetable stock, then simmer on low heat for 45 minutes until beans are tender. While the stew cooks, strip the kale from the stem and rip into large pieces. You can also rip your rustic bread into large pieces. Once beans are tender, remove from heat and season with salt to taste. Stir in the kale while the stew is hot, and serve over chunks of rustic bread. Top with parmesan or pecorino cheese if you’d like, and enjoy! AM

by JANA RILEY

photos by STEVEN FREIHON & DOTTIE AND WILL RIZZO